


Osomatsu san x Oc Drabbles

by yanna_banna



Category: m: おそ松くん| Osomatsu-kun (Anime 1988), おそ松くん| Osomatsu-kun (Anime 1966), おそ松さん | Osomatsu-san (Anime)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 09:39:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19060051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanna_banna/pseuds/yanna_banna
Summary: Okay so...I write about my oc A LOT and I wanna post it here in case tumblr goes down under. My oc meets the sextuplets after season 1 ending and stuff happens (great summary I know)This does have a timeline and I'll be posting them in the order I wanted them in. If you enjoy some ososan oc content then please drop by and give these a read!





	1. A First Meeting With Someone Nerdy

Anna’s first language was English, so naturally, she wasn’t the best at speaking or reading Japanese. She could be considered fluent but she was still a bit slow at reading things in this new country. She figured that reading something in Japanese would help her get better because…that’s literally how it works. She already enjoyed reading but wanted to get out of the habit of reading translated works or even books published in America. “When in Rome” as they say, so she knew it was time to grab some new things to read. However, her problem was: what should she read first?

Anna was browsing the options at the bookstore, having a very difficult time deciding on what to pick. She had her head tilted to read and mentally translate the spines of the volumes. There were a lot of more complicated characters she couldn’t understand. That was the moment she realized this was going to be more difficult than she thought. With a sigh she still looked for anything she could make sense of. 

Eventually, she did find something. The only problem was that she was short and that it was on the top shelf. With her left hand placed on a lower shelf, Anna raised her right arm and jumped to try and at least touch what she was looking at. Her auburn hair bounced up and down as she continued to reach the book that seemed just barely out of her reach. Her attempts to super jump to the top shelf was even causing her long sweater sleeve on her right arm to slip down and have her gauze poke out. With a quick outfit fix, Anna was about to give up and just forget about the book she really wanted, when someone in her peripheral stopped next to her. “A-ah sorry, but uhhhh d-did you need help? With reaching something that is.” Someone who looked familiar asked in a slightly rushed tone. It took Anna a moment to inwardly translate what he asked, but perked up when she grasped what he asked. She gave this stranger one of her trademark smiles and offered her best Japanese.

“If it wouldn’t be any trouble, I’d really appreciate it!” Anna told her which book she was attempting and failing to reach, she also managed to get a good look at this new person as he was grabbing it for her. He seemed really familiar but she couldn’t really place it. This mystery guy dressed himself in a green flannel with some light brown pants, his shoes matching his pants. His hair was extremely neat, being cleanly placed in a variation of a bowl cut. His round glasses gave him an even nerdier look than what was probably intended but it seemed strangely fitting to Anna, somehow. She snapped out of her daze when he handed her the book she couldn’t reach. “Thank you very much! I really appreciate your help!” Anna said with her expectedly sweet voice.

“I-I’ve actually read that book”, the confirmed shy man said, “It’s really good, but not the author’s best piece”. He glanced at the American and seemed to get a small bit of blush that started to grow on his face. “A lot of people have actually said the opposite but, personally, I just like their first book a lot better, ya’ know?” He gave an obviously nervous laugh at the end of his fast spoken thoughts. Anna genuinely felt a bit worried that he was so skittish. She’s been labeled as a bit intimidating by some and figured it was her. Feeling the need to calm his anxiety, Anna wanted to keep a small conversation going. “Is that so? Then is there another book I should buy along side this one?”

Anna learned that her new acquaintance’s name was Choromatsu. They gave the standard greetings along with other social queues. They actually became quick friends! Choromatsu presented his recommendations, truthfully not wanting this interaction to end. This is the longest conversation he’s ever had with a girl, an American at that. “This book is my favorite from this author. It’s a really beautifully complicated story with some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever read. I don’t want to spoil anything for you but the protagonist is used as an amazing representation for the general lower-class people at the time and the author uses them to give some really profound social commentary as well as a political one. At the time this came out, it was a famous controversial piece! Most of the impact comes from the use of particular characters paired with clever word play that makes such mind bending metaphors that are only clear after you finish the story”, he paused, “S-sorry, I’m probably talking your ear off aren’t I?”

While Choromatsu was busy getting embarrassed over accidentally talking too much, Anna just looked on attentive to his quick book review. Her pale face was relaxed into a dreamy expression with glossed over eyes as she took in every word of his passionate reasoning. She always admired people as passionate as him and loved to listen to every word. “Not at all! I think it’s very nice that you recommended a book you’re so excited about. After hearing such a review, I think you just sold me this book.” She laughed as she looked down to skim over the first few pages. While she didn’t notice, Choromatsu was looking at her with a stunned look plastered on his face.

After a few moments, Anna gave a confused look and mouthed “what the fuck?” to herself. Choro could instantly tell what the issue was. Anna began softly, being inexplicably embarrassed, “I know that may be a dumb question, but what do these characters together read as?” She pointed to the page as this new person shifted his glasses in place. “That is a variation of “grass” and this one is another way to write “hill” together they would read as “grassy hill”, he answered. Anna gave a thanks and Choromatsu hesitated before he became nervous again. “I-if you’d like, I could, maybe help you with reading the kanji you don’t understand?” He stiffened and started to sweat slightly, preparing for rejection.

“…Could you, please?”

Hours later, they stayed sitting at a table inside the bookstore. Choromatsu was reading the book he suggested out loud, explaining and showing how some words were written as Anna wrote some notes on spare paper. She always kept an extra notebook in her bag so she was glad it came in handy today. Anna listened to Choro as he read and decided that it was indeed a good book. The two could have finished that book in one sitting if they wanted to, but since they were both adults, obligations just had to interrupt.

Anna’s phone when off when she got a very important phone call. She was expecting this call for weeks and knew she couldn’t miss it due to the fact they may not call back again. “I am so sorry, Matsuno-san, I really need to leave and take this. Thank you so much for everything today, hopefully I’ll see you around to thank you properly.”

“It’s no problem really! And, yeah. I hope to see you again too…” 

She mouthed another ‘thank you’ to him and answered the call as she packed up to leave. While Anna was walking away she looked back and waved to him one last time as she faded from sight. Choromatsu gave a meek wave back as everything that just happened to him began to sink in. He just held a conversation for hours with a pretty girl…a foreigner at that! He honestly couldn’t believe it, but knew he had to keep it to himself. He figured that he should get home to the people who could ruin this for him. He gathered his things and walked his path to home, today replaying in his mind as he tried to find anything he could use as clues to find another way to see Anna again. Choromatsu wanted to see her just one more time more than anything, so he hoped that all he had to do was wait. 

So wait he did.


	2. A First Meeting With Someone Sweet

“…Awwwww what a cutie!!” Anna stopped dead in her tracks to admire and pet an amazingly fluffy gray cat that was slowly walking out from an ally. Anna approached it with her hand being gently reached out for it to sniff. The cat sniffed and held eye contact with Anna as if it was analyzing her. Anna smiled at the cat to not scare it away and even leaned down to not tower over it. 

The cat turned and jumped on a metal bin and leaped to the railing of the stairs on Anna’s left side. It perched itself proudly and regained eye contact with woman with a soft meow. Anna took this as a sign that she could try to pet the stray. She slowly reached her hand up and gave a soft pat to the cats head while rubbing her thumb against its cheek. The cat seemed to enjoy her method of petting since it started purring and leaning into her hand with closed eyes. Anna started giving scratches behind the cat’s ears and the purring only got louder causing her to laugh to herself.

Anna attempted to slowly pull her hand away and make her way home again, but the cat wrapped both paws around her thin wrists and pressed her hand against its face, silently saying it wanted more attention. Anna was more than willing to give the feline more love, so she turned fully to the cat and began using both hands for MAXIMUM PETTING POWER. Both the cat and cafe owner were content as hell with this encounter filled with purring and gentle laughing.

It wasn’t until the cat pulled away and looked behind Anna that the pet session stopped. The gray fluff ball jumped down and ran to someone who was making their way to the ally entrance. A man who may have been tall if he stood straight and wore a face mask and purple hoodie. He had a plastic bag and from the sudden appearance of about a dozen stray cats gathering around him, chances are it was food. Anna made her way past this ally almost everyday on her way home and she did notice some cans were left in the ally every so often and just assumed someone was feeding them. If she was being honest, she thought it was very sweet someone was taking their time to feed strays. She figured today was the day she finally saw the culprit of such a benevolent deed.

The mystery man did his best to avoid eye contact and made his way only a couple feet into the ally. He started doing his thing all while the cats of the neighborhood rubbed against him in adoration. Anna only leaned against the stairs next to her and smiled at the sweet sight before her. She thought she’d do a good deed today as well and not let his efforts go unnoticed. She made her way next to him and dropped down to also admire the cats with him, giant grin included. He was visibly confused and startled that someone joined him but didn’t say anything. Anna was the one who had to start conversation it seemed.

“Ya know, I’ve noticed someone was feeding the cats ‘round here. I think it’s very kind of you to take your time and help these cuties…” She drifted off not really knowing what else to say. Even though it was quiet, she managed to hear him respond with a ‘thanks’. It was a blessed surprise when a few kittens made their way to Anna and started mewing for attention. All she could do is hold back some tears from the adorable creatures and pet all them best she could. She noticed the man beside her was staring but she didn’t mind. Even though she didn’t know it, he was thinking some really nice things about her too…

“Well it’s nice to know that there are still some kind people nowadays. Maybe I’ll keep seeing ya around Mr…” Anna said waiting for a response. She looked in his direction expecting to match a name to a face. “…Matsuno…Matsuno Ichimatsu…” Anna’s eyes softened at his more clear voice, it sounded really nice to her. She gave a soft chuckle to herself and said “Gray Anna, it’s lovely to meet you Mr. Matsuno. Please keep doing what you’re doing, not many people are kind-hearted enough to do something like this.” 

She stood and began to walk to home. She didn’t notice that he watched her walk until she was out of sight. Neither of them knew this was the start of something quite special…


	3. A First Meeting With Someone Musical

It was a habit for Karamatsu to go to the busy park near by and play for all to hear. With the sun shining and there not being a single cloud in the sky, he took hold of his beloved guitar and made his path to the grassy hill to strum for the universe. The sound of his boots clicking on the pavement, he took his usual stride…taking his time to get there. 

With a theatric pose, he froze for but a moment to silently get attention from the passers. Karamatsu unpacked his instrument and leaned against a tall tree with a kicked up leg. Another deep breath along with a couple of taps on his guitar frame. Birds chirped with the first few notes being plucked. It was clear that the person playing wasn’t a pro but he wasn’t bad? It was hard to tell.

His shades covering his eyes that were closed as he immersed himself in his playing. Loud yet delicate notes were being played to everyone who passed by, all giving their quiet opinions about the music. The sound interesting a single person in particular. A younger lady who was reading on a park bench about 20 feet away was listening in. Anna, with her auburn hair put up in a ponytail, was on her break from work and wanted to enjoy it at the park with a book. She didn’t expect a free show as well.

Subconsciously, Anna floated her attention away from her book and leaned her pale face skyward with closed eyes, listening to the gentle strums coming from a few feet away. While she enjoyed the moment of peace, Anna just had to know who was playing her favorite instrument. She took some time to observe this person near her who was giving her some spice in her boring day. He wore a simple white shirt and adorned a leather jacket with matching boots. His sunglasses seemed a bit over kill considering he was in the shade, but they seemed fitting for his outfit. His black hair was gelled into a fancier version of a bowl cut that gave him a more nerdy look that contrasted what he was going for with his clothes. Anna wasn’t really sure what to think of this mystery man, but she wanted to talk to him more than anything! He seemed crazy somehow, dare she say a lunatic, and knew she would have a stellar conversation with this man.

He was wrapping up the third song he was playing and Anna knew she just had to know more about this guy before her break was done. She gently closed her book as the last chords were played. He placed his hands over the strings to stop their vibrating and Anna took a moment to clap for his efforts. It seemed like the best way to get his attention and she prayed he would start a conversation. With her sweet smile and heartfelt applause, she certainly achieved her goal. It was clear that he had a moment of hesitation about what to do. Karamatsu had a mental argument with himself about his next move. He figured he had nothing to lose except his dignity so he gathered whatever confidence he had and made his way to the lovely lady who actually enjoyed his music, his trusty guitar in hand. 

The instrument was leaned against the bench as Karamatsu sat besides the breath-taking American he hoped understood Japanese. Sure he knew bits of English, but not enough to hold a conversation. He struck a dramatic pose that included him placing his arms behind the backseat rail and crossed legs. Anna was looking on at his antics with amusement as he composed himself around her. He was there for a moment, she suspected for dramatic flare, but decided that she should be the one to start the hopefully eccentric conversation. With her head slightly tilted, Anna began. “You play beautifully” she said softly. He was visibly shocked to hear an American of all people speak Japanese, not the best pronunciation but he still understood what she was saying. Karamatsu collected himself and spoke back.

“Heh~ Why thank you, my angel. It’s surely a blessing that I received from the heavens itself that such a compliment from someone who’s beauty compares to that of my work on the strings. Truly, a man as sinful as I does not deserve such praise from someone so graceful.” It was so strange to Anna that she was blushing from his extra™ words. He really wasn’t what she thought he was. He was…oddly charming? She really wanted to keep talking! “Oh uhhh…thank you for the compliment but I don’t think I’m all that great.”

“Nonsense, my Karamatsu Girl~ I may embellish my words but each one speaks the truth of your true charm”, Karamatsu continued. Anna giggled at the nickname from this stranger and that was his cue to blush. The two gave introductions and pleasantries, continuing an impressive back and forth for people who just met.

Karamatsu and Anna could probably talk for hours, Kara doing the most of the talking. Anna enjoyed listening to him and could tell right off the bat what kind of person was hiding under the surface of this bold persona. She got bits and pieces of his family life as she listened with her cheek resting in her hand. Kara also liked asking questions about her and he listened to her shorter yet dreamy and romanticized responses. Both ended up on the conversation of music and both halves got more passionate about this subject in particular. “Heh~ A woman who’s as lovely as she is talented! How did I get so lucky to meet one such as you?~” Karamatsu continually used his lines of compliments in hopes of scoring today, and so far he still thinks he has a fighting chance! 

“Oh I’m not that good, I did only start playing about a year ago. I actually started out with a guitar that looks like yours.” Anna pointed to the wooden instrument that still leaned next to her conversation partner. Kara insisted that she played something for him as a way to “further their bond” as he phrased it. Anna figured there was no harm in playing in front of an audience for once so she softly grabbed the guitar from Kara’s hand and placed it on her folded legs. When she got situated in a comfortable position she played a short song that involved some skillful fast paced finger picking that seemed very difficult. It certainly took Kara slightly off guard since he couldn’t even do that, even after playing for about three times as long as Anna claims to have. 

Anna finished and offered Kara his guitar back. He was mesmerized with her performance, so he immediately wanted to know how to do something so cool. Anna walked him through finger picking techniques and found it adorable how eager he was to impress her. They kept on with their banter with Kara’s playing in the background for a while before Anna’s phone went off. It was he alarm going off saying she had to get back to work. “I need to get going”, Anna said as she started packing up her stuff, “it was so nice talking to you, Matsuno san! Hopefully, I’ll see you around?”

“I’d wait a lifetime to be able to speak with you again! May our paths cross once more soon, my Karamatsu angel~”

Anna waved back towards him as she rushed back to her cafe. He gave gentle waves back with a dorky grin as he watched her fade from his sight. He really wanted to talk with her again, even if only for a minute. Karamatsu stayed on that bench plucking at his guitar for hours thinking about how much he’ll brag about his encounter today. He would never guess that a few of his brothers also already met with the ever so kind Anna.


	4. Black Band Ring

It was a very unusual scene to have the Matsuno house be this quiet, but it was still welcomed by the neighbors that finally got some peace. However, it uncomfortably hot on this particular day so the window was open and the sounds from the busy street could be heard from inside the matsu house. “Anna-chan! Hey, Anna-chan! Why do you always wear that ring?!” Jyushimatsu spoke rather loudly to ask his question to the mutual family friend. All six brothers and Anna were casually hanging around in the living area, doing their own thing. For whatever reason, Jyushimatsu felt the need to ask such a random question out nowhere. 

Anna looked up from the video she and Todomatsu were watching on the ladder’s phone and gave a very confused look the the second youngest’s question. “Uhhhh, well it’s just a ring with some sentiment, I suppose.” Anna wasn’t exactly out of the closet to the matsus just yet and didn’t want to get into explaining what her sexuality was at this moment, so she wanted to stay vague. It wasn’t really their business anyway. Why did he suddenly want to know about the dinged up ring on her hand anyway? She was never seen without it on her hand, so she figured that it might have just been enough to get anyone curious. Jyushimatsu’s outburst caught the attention of all five other brothers and unintentionally shifted attention towards Anna.

“Ahhh, I see. Can I see it?!” Jyushimatsu yelled, slightly quieter this time but still at an uncomfortable volume. Anna nodded and slipped the metal band off her middle finger, giving it to Jyushimatsu to examine closer. It had all kinds of scrapes and dents in it, its main feature being a small heart that was etched into the center. The other five brothers gathered around hoping to also see what could be so special about such an accessory. Osomatsu was the first to grab it from Jyushimatsu and give his opinion, saying, “What’s so special about such a messed up ring? It doesn’t look all that fancy. Hell, I could get you something better outta the garbage!”

“Osomatsu nii-san! Don’t just say something so rude!” Choromatsu quickly said to scold his elder brother. In fact, all of the brothers seemed quick to shut up the eldest over his remark about the old ring. Anna tried to tell him it was okay but her voice fell on deaf ears. “Anna said it had some meaning to her, so you can’t just say that! Give it here!” Choromatsu lunged toward Osomatsu to try and snag it from his tactless hands but wound up tripping over his own feet and slamming right into Oso instead. Osomatsu being Osomatsu let the ring fall right out of his fingers and the small ring went flying out the open window.

Everyone went racing to try and grab it, but it was a bit too late. Even though it was small all seven people saw the ring roll down the walk way…and into the drain grate. All six matsus looked towards the ring’s owner with horrified looks not knowing what her reaction might be. Anna, standing behind all six, looked like she was about to cry. Karamatsu was the first to rush to her and apologize, even though he did nothing to cause the ring’s disappearance. “Anna, we are so sorry!” 

Ichimatsu slapped Osomatsu on the back of the head to really solidify that he fucked up. Oso already had an “oh, shit” look on his face and was ready to grovel at her feet to express how sorry he is, but the second oldest beat him to the punch. “Nonono it’s okay you guys, like you said it- it was just a ring.” Anna said back with a small crack in her voice tell them all she was actually very upset about losing something that was clearly really valuable to her. 

The rest of the evening was filled with the brothers’ foreheads on the ground apologizing to Anna about the ring and her insisting that it was perfectly alright and that it was an accident. Osomatsu and Choromatsu were the most hysterical about the whole thing since they’re the ones who caused it to go rocketing out the window, saying:“WE’RE SHO SHORRY, ANNA!!!”, about a thousand times.

A couple of days passed and the sextuplets still felt totally horrible about what happened. They didn’t even know why that ring was so important to Anna but it still felt weird to see her right hand without it. Ichimatsu was even observant enough to notice that she began to rub the finger it was always placed on. It only made them feel worse. They knew they had to make it up to her, but could they just replace something with so much emotional value? 

They figured it couldn’t hurt to try. That same day they went to every jewelry store in the area to try and find a ring nice enough to replace the one currently in the gutter. It was surprisingly hard to find a ring that met their standards.

Eventually, they found the ring they deemed worthy to give their collective friend. A black metal band, that was supposed to be highly durable and wasn’t expensive enough to brake the bank. They all agreed this ring was, hopefully, one that could replace Anna’s signature accessory. However, Karamatsu was the one who pointed out something seemed to be missing. In his words, the ring “was missing something key and unique” but he couldn’t quite place it. All of them agreed, but it was Jyushimatsu who figured out what it was.

“Excuse me, but how much extra would it cost to also have this engraved?”

The next day the brothers invited Anna over to hang out like they did rather often. She showed up and flopped over next to Ichimatsu, clearly not as upset as she was a few days ago. Everything was going as they normally did for about an hour before Choromatsu decided it was time to give the surprise gift. “Anna-chan, we still feel really bad about what happened with your ring…”

All Anna did was roll her eyes, head slightly moving with them, as she gently smiled in his direction. “This again? Guys, I already told you it was okay! It was an accident, no harm done.” It was Osomatsu’s turn to speak up.

“No, it isn’t okay. You said that ring meant a lot to you and we were careless with it.” In the background all younger sibling muttered in unison, “what the hell do you mean ‘we’, you shitty eldest?”

“In any case, even though we might not be able to replace and item of such great value, we still feel the need to at least attempt to make it up to you, our dear friend.” Karamatsu stated in his typical fancy speech. Todomatsu spoke next, “Exactly, it’s the least we could do so we got you a little something!”, he finished and gave a firm nod towards Ichi. Ichimatsu was the only one trusted enough to take care of the gift.

The fourth son softly took hold of Anna’s hand and placed a small black box in her palm, quickly shifting back to his regular sitting position right after. She moved her arm in front of her and held the unexpected gift with both hands. She gave a meek “…you guys” to them all trying to not burst into tears. The brunette opened the lid of the box with her thumb and forefinger and gave a touched expression upon seeing the contents.

Inside there was the brand new black ring that looked similar to her previous one. The only difference being that in place of the engraved heart, there were six dots that formed into a circle. Anna quickly slipped it on the middle finger on her right hand and rolled it around the appendage. It fit perfectly. A tear fell down her cheek as she looked back up towards her friends. Her words failed her so, as a way to thank them, she tackled Osomatsu and Karamatsu to the floor in a tight hug as they were the ones closet to her and sitting next to each other. She gave each of her friends a long and suffocating hug one by one as her thanks and they soon went off to get some dinner. She spent the whole night fiddling with the ring, thinking how lucky she was to have such great friends.

Maybe she would actually tell them what it meant soon.


	5. American Style Halloween

It was the Matsunos that insisted they see what Halloween in America was like. In Japan, Halloween isn’t a holiday of scares, it’s an excuse for girl to dress in revealing costumes and get free candy and drinks. They were shocked to hear that Americans take the day very seriously and try to work up some screams in the name of celebrating horror. The six were certainly surprised to hear that their sweet friend, Anna, loved scary things and anything horror related. She went on for almost an hour about American legends and cryptids. The brothers had Jyushimatsu to blame for the night they’ve had.

It was the fifth son that suggested that they celebrate Halloween like Americans. That included Ouija boards, scary movies, and lots of American sweets. Anna seemed a little too excited to celebrate, but they suspected that it was because she enjoyed the spooky holiday. All brothers were on board. “How bad can it be? American horror is kinda boring isn’t it?” 

The sextuplets have seen a couple American horror films, all of them left even Todomatsu feeling lackluster from how cheesy they seemed when compared to Japanese horror. They left all preparations of the American style Halloween to Anna. All that was left to do was wait for October 31st.

When the day came, Anna arrived with a box of Halloween goodies. Some traditional treats such as candy apples, popcorn balls, and even some America exclusive candy! Along with the sweets, she brought some activities even Americans thought were a bit cliche. She brought copies of her favorite horror movies, some candles, and a Ouija board. The boys kinda laughed at the crappy piece of wood with letters written on it, mainly because it was a bit of a ridiculous concept that people paid actual money for. Anna, on the other hand, wasn’t one who took things such as the paranormal lightly. “You guys shouldn’t joke about this thing. It may just be a dumb party game for some people, but it can be very real if done right.” They dismissed her because they figured she was trying to scare them. They didn’t know what they were in for.

Ichimatsu actually showed some interest in the game, even if he was doubtful of it working. So with hesitance, all seven lit the candles and set up the board at the table. Everyone took their place around the board and some where more shaky than others. Karamatsu, Todomatsu, and Anna were all noticeably frightened to put their hands on and begin the game. Choromatsu, being the ‘logical’ one, was quick to call out their behavior. “Come on. I expected this from Todomatsu, but really, Anna? You seemed so excited about this stuff, why are you scared?” With a deep breath, Anna said, “I just never thought I’d use this thing again. Last time I used it really got me shook, I guess.”

Anna reached out her her pointer and middle fingers from both hands and placed them on the wooden planchette, slightly jittery. All six men followed suit. Anna explained the rules and the game started. With three circles of the wood, they said the first question, asked by the ever so brave Osomatsu: “Are there any ghouls here that want to talk to us?” His tone was light-hearted and excited, a detail that didn’t go unnoticed. After about 10 seconds, the planchette slowly moved to “yes”. Everyone around the table took their turns yelling that they didn’t move the piece, Totty getting even more freaked out. “GUYS I DON’T LIKE THIS! DON’T JOKE AROUND WITH THIS STUFF!!” More arguing about no one moving the planchette happened before Ichi wanted to move on. “We aren’t going to get anywhere like this. The only way to tell if it’s real is by asking a question no one would guess, right?” He looked to Anna for approval and she nodded for conformation. Ichi continued, “Then let’s ask something no one else knows.”

“Like what? We know everything about each other so it could still be any of us.” Choromatsu debated. After a moment, Jyushimatsu had a thought. “What if Anna asked a question? She would ask something we wouldn’t know.” All members agreed and Anna asked her question, “Hey spirit…What was…the name of my first pet?” The wooden piece moved to spell out a name.

M-I-S-T-Y

“…She was my cat when I was four.” Anna said slightly spooked. “Wait a minute. How do we know you’re not the one moving it, Anna?” Choromatsu said with a tone of annoyance. “I’m not the one moving it! I’m too scared of this thing to fake its responses”, she argued. More comments about how stupid the whole thing was and that one of them was moving the planchette ensued. Eventually, Anna had enough with them yelling over it. “FINE! If you don’t believe me then take your hands off the planchette and then ask a question.” There was no hesitation for everyone to raise their hands off the wooden accessory. All seven players held their hands in a surrendering position so both hands were visible and off the board. Anna was quick to ask something, “Okay spirit…are you still here with us?” Slowly but surely, the planchette slid over to “yes”. By this moment, all players were shaking over the piece actually moving. Totty even peed his pants a little. Osomatsu was next to ask a question, this time with more fear. “What are you doing here? W-what do you want??” With slow and drawn out movements, the Ouija board spelled its answer: H-E-R

Heartbeats could now be heard beating out of the chest of most players. Some hearts seemed to stop entirely. Karamatsu found his voice to ask a follow up question. “What do you mean?! What is it that you want?!!?” Much quicker this time the piece moved to the ‘goodbye’’ option on the board. It slid at almost an ungodly speed. After this Todomatsu jumped from his seat and leaped for the light switch. “I’ve had enough of this! Let’s do something else!”, he yelled. Everyone was eager to put the board away in its box and move on to watching movies with the candy Anna brought.

The next couple hours were spent watching the selection of scary American classics and munching the treats provided by Anna, everyone making sure all lights in the house were on. All the friends seemed to be calming down from the spooky encounter with the wooden Ouija board and just wanted to have a good time watching bad horror movies. They all managed to even start cracking jokes and laughing, beginning to forget what occurred earlier. Osomatsu and Ichimatsu sat themselves at the coffee table with the snacks. Jyushimatsu, Choromatsu and Todomatsu sat themselves far away from the T.V on the couch. Anna and Karamatsu sitting next to each other under the frame of the window. It all happened in the middle of the third movie a little after 1 am.

The brothers and their mutual friend were all laughing over the bad acting that only the 80s could provide, when Anna started coughing. She kept coughing and coughing so much it sounded like it was starting to hurt. She began huddling over in pain and started coughing into her hand, her other arm wrapped around her sides. Chants of concern came from all of her friends. Karamatsu repositioned himself to hover over her and take a closer look to see what was wrong. After a few more wheezes and coughs, Anna lifted her head slightly and looked at her hand. It was splattered with blood.

With bits of blood dripping from her face, Anna silently looked at her friends with a horrified expression. Choromatsu was the first to react. “Guys…we need to go to the hospital” he said with terror and shock, still trying to process what’s happening. Kara being the closest to Anna helped her up and the others steadily got up, attempting to understand why this was all happening. Anna and Karamatsu made it only about three feet when Anna collapsed to her knees. All men in the room rushed to her side to aid her, but then the lights blacked out.

Due to the late hour, the room was completely dark and none of them could see an inch in front of them. They couldn’t even see the silhouettes of their panicking brothers. What scared them even more is the fact that they couldn’t find Anna where she should have been. Their loud screams were halted when the sound of knocking came from the window. The only sound that lingered in the air was the noise of heavy breathing and tapping from the window. Small whimpers coming from a couple of the boys.

The lights started flickering on and the matsu boy could finally see the area clearly again. They looked around for their missing friend and they found her. Her back was turned to them and she was facing the bookcase on the other side of the room. Ichimatsu was the only one brave enough to call out for her. “…Anna-chan?” Anna’s head spinned around violently at the mention of her name. Her eyes seemed to be completely white and there seemed to be twice as much blood than before. With the lights still flickering, the boys shrieked at the sight. They all backed away at a snails pace as the room turned black again. They stood surrounded in darkness when the light flashed back on again in a quick blinding burst. 

With streams of red flowing down her haunting face, Anna was bent over backwards and inching her contorted body towards the mortified men. The sight was enough to make them all stumble backwards in fear and fall on their asses. With each flick of the light, the closer Anna came, arms stretched like a plead for help.

When suddenly the lights stopped flickering and Anna’s eyes rolled back to a normal position. Ginormous smile spread across her face, she unrolled herself and stood straight again. “Happy American Halloween, boys!” was the first thing Anna happily exclaimed. She continued laughing out of pure joy as the boys fumbled over their words to ask her what the hell just happened. Todomatsu actually passed out, but they chose to ignore that. “ANNA WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!”

After Anna washed all the blood off her face she was getting demands for an explanation of how she pulled off something so scaring. Anna was happy to give every detail of her elaborate Halloween prank. She said that it all started with the Ouija board. “The planchette had a magnet at the bottom, and my jeans had one placed at the knee.” Jyushimatsu grabbed the Ouija box and examined the play piece, sure enough it had a round magnet glued to the underside. Anna showed off the black magnet also glued to her black pants she was wearing. Choromatsu questioned further with, “So that whole bit with that thing moving on its own was just you moving your knee under the table?!” Anna hummed with glee over his correct answer.

“How’d you do that whole thing with the blood and the lights then!?” Osomatsu demanded. Anna dug around her hoddie pocket and pulled out some kind of remote and some pills filled with red dye. She spilled the details of her scheme, “Blood capsules. When I faked that coughing fit, I snuck one in my mouth and bit down for the spatter effect”, she bounced the remote in her other hand, “This right here is an EMT device, I push this button and it makes all surrounding electronics act up. It does a nifty little strobe effect for lights.” Anna finished her speech with pride and an aura of cockiness. 

“B-but that thing you did with your body!” Kara stuttered out. Anna gave a wink and went right back to acting like she was all that and a bag of chips. “Liked that little trick did ya? You just gotta be super flexable to do it. Very effective for physical scares.”

“You’ve done this before?!” Choromatsu yelled.

All Anna did was laugh over their amusing reactions. She loved giving people scares like this and found it way too easy to pull off. While she was laughing over the situation, Osomatsu was pouting in his spot next to Anna. When she noticed he was being a brat over the situation, she sat back up and poked his cheek. “What’s wrong Osoma-chan? Can’t take a prank like a man?” The eldest wasn’t in the mood so the only thing he said back was: “I hate you so much”. Anna tossed her arms around his shoulders, saying “I love you too, Oso”. The group of friends finished the night by falling asleep to more scary movies. Even with the heart pounding prank, it was safe to say that the boys enjoyed their first American Styled Halloween. They decided they weren’t going to do it again though.


	6. My New Inspirations!

Gentle guitar strums were filling the void of silence of the Matsuno family room. While the playing didn’t sound half bad, it was the person playing the boys couldn’t stand. Everyone was doing what they normally did. Osomatsu and Totty were looking at something on the ladder’s phone, Ichi was messing around with a stray he brought in, Choromatsu was reading, Jyushimatsu was…being Jyushimatsu, and Anna stared out the window as she listened to Karamatsu play. There was something in the air that put everyone on alert.

It was always Anna who normally played with Karamatsu and made him sound a bit better with her accompaniment. She always played with him and listened when his brothers didn’t want to bother with his shiny nature. But today seemed a bit different. Today Anna just seemed off. She was listening but she gave off an aura of envy mixed with sadness. If she didn’t play her own guitar with Kara, she’d hum along and just hang around with the other five. She felt so frustrated and hardly wanted to look at Kara holding his instrument.

Anna wasn’t humming along, she wasn’t even smiling as her eyes followed the birds that passed by the opened window, like she normally did. She seemed so aggravated at something. All six of them could tell and they had a silent conversation about it, mostly exchanged with eye contact. The sextuplets concluded it was something Kara did since she seemed to be avoiding him ever so slightly. It made the second eldest extremely nervous that he may have done something wrong and made his friend be upset at him. She wasn’t the type to be upset for no reason so he thought he fucked up royally. Thousands of more glances were shared between the men about who would ask about it, Kara giving pleading eyes to not be the one to talk to her. After a couple of minutes, and a lot of protest, Ichimatsu was the one who was told to confront their mutual friend. Somehow, the other five communicated he was the best brother to ask since she clearly favored Ichi in a weird way. She answered him in a more straight forward way when he asked her about whatever’s troubling her. They figured it was how he asked. Either that or it was the fact Ichi knew how to confront people better than the others. So with hesitance, Ichimatsu accepted the fact he was the one in charge of figuring out why Anna was mad at Kara.

As subtly as he could, Ichi took a breath and started an open conversation. In his gruff voice and without taking his eyes off the cat he invited indoors he said, “It feels really weird in here today. You guys feel it too, right?” 

The others played along and agreed, knowing it was part of Ichi’s plan. Anna looked around at all of them with more of a neutral face, her eyes seeming dull and gray. She leaned back from the table, using her arms as her support. “I thought so, I just figured it was one of you guys giving off bad vibes”, Anna responded when it was her turn to agree. Ichimatsu continued, “Well it’s one of us and frankly, I’m not liking how awkward it feels in here.” It was Osomatsu’s turn to help out.

“We’re not going to get anywhere like this now are we? Come on, let’s gather ‘round and figure out who’s causing this bad atmosphere. It’s bumming me out!” He gave a wink to his brothers and motioned for all of them to sit around the table Anna was sitting at. When they all got situated, they knew it was time to play a long game of “it’s not me”. The next hour was filled with debates of why it’s not them causing such a depressing mood. As expected, Anna gave excuses to each of them about why it wasn’t her, and she wasn’t dumb enough to not notice she was getting singled out. When she was running out of excuses and it was clear she was lying, Ichi found his chance. “Why are you guys grilling me all the sudden? How come it has to be me?” She said almost shouting.

“Because if it wasn’t you, you wouldn’t be getting so defensive. You’re not normally like this, Anna. If you’re mad at us you can just say so.”

Anna stayed quiet for about a minute before she let out a deep exhale and fell backwards onto the floor with a thud. Her sleeve covered forearms went across her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at them while she admitted defeat. “I’m sorry, you guys. I shouldn’t have yelled at you just because I’m upset.” Poor Karamatsu was anxious and quiet the whole time but at that moment he couldn’t hold in his anxiety anymore and just asked what was on his mind the whole conversation. “H-hey, you’re mad at me aren’t you?” Without moving her arms, Anna responded “Of course not Kara. Why would I be mad at you?”

“Well you were kind of ignoring me and I just…assumed I suppose?”

“Kara, sweetie, I’m not mad at you. I guess I’m just a bit jealous.” At that, all six men were giving confused looks and different variations of “what?? why???” wanting some clarity to the strange statement. It took Anna a moment to find the words to properly convey her feelings. “Lately, I haven’t been inspired to really play or make my own music. My guitar, my piano, I can’t even bring myself to sing. When I heard Karamatsu just…play without any hesitance, I got a bit frustrated. I guess you all could feel it too, huh?” The six weren’t really sure how to respond to that but they were certainly relieved that they understood why she was being a bit hostile. As always, Osomatsu was the first to attempt and try to fix her mood. He stood up and moved above her, a leg on each side of her. He bent over and used both hands to unfold both of Anna’s arms off her face, firmly holding her wrists. He held eye contact with her dulled eyes and flashed his charming grin that caused her to slap on a forced half-smile.

Osomatsu helped Anna to sit back up straight and sat himself to her left. They all took turns trying and suggesting ways she could regain her inspiration. Each idea seemed to be worse than the last and nothing was working to spark some kind of creativity in Anna’s heart. Eventually, they ran out of ideas to pitch and all seven people in the room gave up. “Well, it seems like we hit a dead end huh?” Osomatsu said. “Maybe inspiration will just come naturally from just hanging around us enough!” He said jokingly as a way to kinda lighten the mood. But at that moment, Anna looked around at each of her dear friends and with each matsu she looked over, the brighter her eyes got. Her eyes and smile widened as her whole mood drastically changed. With new thrill and excitement in her voice she turned to Osomatsu and exclaimed, “MATSUNO OSOMATSU, YOU’RE A GENIUS!” 

In one swift motion, Anna planted a kiss on Oso’s cheek and sprinted to the front door grabbing her shoes. In a shocked state, all brothers, excluding a dazed Osomatsu, called out for their friend as they dashed to the front. “Anna where are you going?!” With a quick slam of the front door opening, Anna didn’t even put on her shoes as she began running down the walkway, turning only to yell back but not slowing down. “HOME! YOU GUYS ARE MY NEW INSPIRATIONS!!” A loud “yaaahooooo” could be heard fading away as she continued to rush back to her home. Leaving the five youngest Matsunos with bewildered expressions over the sudden change of pace. 

Osomatsu was still spaced out at the table they were all gathered around not even two minutes ago. His hand gently placed on his cheek and dopey smile on his red as hell face. When his brothers found his like that when they made their way back in the family room, they beat him up over his special moment for the whole night. And at her home, Anna had her hands on her piano all night until sunrise the next day.


	7. Can't Keep Up

If Anna was being honest, she didn’t know how she ended up here. She thought she would be able to have a field day with her friend but she underestimated his ability by about a mile. At the moment she’s collapsed on the grass breathing so heavily that it hurt and frankly it felt like she was on her death bed. She didn’t hear Jyushi running over to her as she reflected how she wound up here. It was only hours earlier when it all started…

Anna and the Matsuno sextuplets were all enjoying a simple relaxing morning filled with small talk and witty banter. They began discussing their plans for the rest of the day and when it turned to Jyushimatsu, he was more than disappointed to hear he’ll be doing baseball practice alone today. He gave a slightly sad sound with each excuse his brothers made about them not being able to go with. Anna felt bad and figured it couldn’t hurt to go outside for some exercise. It was her day off work and had nothing better to do. She knew for a fact that Jyushi was more active and capable than her but thought she could keep up if she pushed herself a bit. So with blissful ignorance, she volunteered to escort her dear friend to practice.

“Hey Jyushi, I don’t have anything to do today if you don’t mind me tagging along.”

“Really!?” The atmosphere of the room changed dramatically as the other five knew what she just signed up for. They all gave concerned glances to each other while Jyushi ran to envelope Anna in a bear hug exclaiming how excited he was to spend the day with her. With a meeting time and place exchanged, they departed and no one wanted to speak about what would inevitably happen to their female friend. They didn’t want to sacrifice their day so they all agreed that Anna was the one to suffer in their place. They slowly left the room with chants of “MUSCLE MUSCLE HUSTLE HUSTLE” coming from the new work out buddies.

Anna and Jyushi met up only an hour later. Jyushimatsu wearing, not his usual baseball uniform, but a black tank top and yellow basketball shorts. Anna wore something similar: a black tank with a white exercise jacket over it and black joggers. Jyushi was staring but she ignored it. Both carried work out bags with everything they both thought they would need. The two stretched and began Anna’s afternoon of pain. 

A simple warm up jog, a good start Anna was thinking to herself. Some push ups, squats and other simple exercises like that was when Anna asked for a small break. She dug around her bag for a few minutes before she decided it was time to take off the thin jacket. Her forearm was covered in exercise gauze because she figured she was going to be hurting later. A minute to drink water and that’s when it all started going wrong.

More running and activities that require a lot of upper body strength was more than enough to send Anna over her tipping point. She was practicing batting with him when she started slowing down. He wasn’t dumb enough to not notice she wasn’t doing so hot. Jyushimatsu asked a few times if she was alright and wanted to stop but her pride and need to not stop her friend’s practice stopped her from giving up. She was a lot of things, stubborn was one of them and a quitter was not.

They stayed at it for another two hours before they were almost done. The sun was begging to set and it was the golden hours of the day. The last set was simple. Jyushi would bat and Anna would jump and/or run for the ball and toss it back. Thirty minutes into it and Anna felt like her lungs were caving in and her legs were going to break from all the jumping. This was seconds before the start of the inevitable happened. 

With one more bat of the ball Jyushi had energy to spare when he hit the ball one more time. Anna ran a few years to grab the ball mid-air and sped walked to the pitcher position. She was light headed and not even standing straight, slightly rocking as she tried to catch her breath. She prepared to toss the ball another time. Anna raised her arm up and behind her when she gave up on keeping her balance. She fell backwards and blacked out for only a few seconds.

Naturally, Jyushi ran to her side in the biggest panic she has ever seen him in. With flailing arms and overly panic induced screams, Anna only sat up and laughed over the situation. Eventually, he calmed down and Anna had to tell him about a dozen times she was okay, this wasn’t the first nor last time she’s fainted. She was still was still a little too exhausted to even walk so Jyushi offered to carry her back home.

Not only was Jyushimatsu carrying both of their bags on one arm but he held Anna on his back like it was nothing. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she rested her head on his shoulder. They held a conversation as they made their way around, laughing and usual small talk included as the sun finally went below the horizon. Anna explained that she tried to keep up and Jyushi went on about how concerned he was but happy about how she tried for his sake.

It wasn’t until later that Anna and Jyushimatsu called it a night and said that they’ll see each other again soon, excessive waving as they departed. He dropped her off at her home and made his way back to his. As soon as he was gone Anna thought to herself: “His brothers knew what was going to happen and what I was up against. I’m going to kill them tomorrow.”


	8. Sudden Rainstorm

Cloudy weather can only mean one thing: rain! Anna adored the rain and never bothered with carrying around an umbrella just so she could feel the cool drops fall on her. It was her favorite feeling, walking around with tiny jolts of cold hitting her to make her feel breaks in her natural body heat. Sudden chills always made Anna feel more alive and energetic, she never cared how cold she may get because she loved the spark she gets with each drip of cold rain.

When it was almost closing time, Anna expected it to rain on her way home. She couldn’t be more thrilled! It was only a little after 3:30 but it was already getting a tad dark due to the overcast. Anna could already smell the unforgettable scent of rain hitting the earth. She knew it was time for the rain to start drizzling when she heard the first crack of thunder. The boom in her heart after that thunder struck always made her feel so powerful and amazed. It was always breath-taking, the way thunder furiously hit the earth with a flash. Sure enough, mere seconds after that thunder hit, drops started falling and hitting the pavement outside. Anna watched with amusement as people ran to get inside or rushed to open their umbrellas. She could have watched the rain for hours but she knew she had to wrap up things in the cafe first.

When all of Anna’s employees had left with umbrellas or in cabs, Anna locked up and made her walk home without any protection from the water. She took her first steps outside the awning and held her freckled face up towards the sky, taking in the feeling of the rain sprinkling on her. While everyone else around her were either running or desperately clutching their umbrellas, Anna walked with a small skip to her step almost like she was dancing to some music that wasn’t there. She even put in a twirl in here and there to show everyone how excited she was for the rain.

Anna made her way past a familiar alleyway when she spotted a friendly face. A man leaning against the wall under a very narrow balcony that hardly shielded him from the down pour. She could recognize that purple hoodie from a mile away. “Hey, Ichi! Having fun there?” Anna said with a small laugh over the fact that Ichimatsu most likely didn’t plan to be in the rain like she did. All Ichi gave in response was an annoyed grunt over the situation. His hood was pulled over his head, probably to avoid getting wetter than he already was. Anna flashed him her sunshine-like smile while it looked like he was about to murder the weather man for lying about the forecast. “What’s wrong Ichimachan? Kitty doesn’t like a little water?” Anna teased. He was clearly not in a good mood so she dropped the teasing and offered to walk him home. 

The two began the commute to the Matsuno house, Anna with her chipper walk, and Ichimatsu…being Ichimatsu. Anna clearly being in the better mood attempted to cheer her friend up and start some conversation. They were walking by a park as the rain started to pour a tad harder. Anna jumped onto the ledge that looked like a balance beam which separated the concrete from the grassy hill and started her third attempt to get Ichi out of his sour mood. “Bad day, Ichi?” Another boom from thunder was heard as Ichimatsu finally spoke. “Yeah…and this bullshit rain doesn’t help out either. How the hell can you be so happy being caught in this weather? It almost like you want to get a cold.” He spit out with clear frustration. “What? You don’t like just being out in the rain? It’s the best kind of weather!” Anna said back in a voice that was so lighthearted, optimistic, and sweet that even Ichi couldn’t resist not feeling a tad bit better.

“Your attitude is really pissing me off, you know that?” Ichi spoke back, the smallest bit less angry. “Right back at ya, dude”, Anna continued, her bright and amazing smile not wavering even slightly. The rain was letting down even harder, giving Anna even more thrill about the weather conditions even though everything she was wearing was soaked, even the gauze that was covered by her thick sweater sleeve was wet. Another crash of thunder hit the ground as Anna slipped a bit and began to fall off the concrete divider. As she started falling down the grassy slope, she managed to grab Ichimatsu’s arm in hopes of him theoretically stopping her fall, but he wound up falling over with her. 

They tumbled and rolled down the hill and hit the bottom onto flat terrain. Anna wound up flat on her back, Ichimatsu flopped on top her. Anna started laughing with such a tender and loud laugh over the situation while Ichi was panicking over the position they ended up in. He scrambled to sit back up and moved away with a lot of apologies pouring out of his mouth. He chose to ignore that he lost a sandal during the fall. When Anna was still laughing her heart out after he managed to calm down, Ichi’s face noticeably softened along with pink dusting over the sight and sound of her laughing so genuinely. It was a laugh that brought something like child-like comfort. Eventually, Anna calmed down too, and sat up as well, face glowing as if she were the only star in the sky. Ichi looked at her in awe for only a moment when he quickly got to his feet and said, “We should get indoors, we’re soaked now because of you”, with adverting eyes. He reached his hand out to Anna to help her up, but she had her own plans. She took hold of his hand and pulled him down with her again so they were both on their backs, looking up to the gray sky with thousands of rain drops falling around them. Their hair mostly likely getting covered in mud and grass.

“…Nah. I wanna lay here for a while…and take all of this in.” Anna drifted off and closed her eyes, faint smile on her pale features, feeling the water drench her as she sprawled out on the grass next to a close friend of hers. Ichi was super flustered over how insanely adorable she looked next to him, still gripping on his hoodie sleeve. He took in the sight of how calm and relaxed she was with rain hitting her face, simply enjoying being there…and something happened. An avalanche of peace washed over him as his breathing slowed. With a turn of his head, Ichimatsu looked up to the expanse of gray above him, and he closed his eyes to take in the moment, just as she was.

They stayed like that for about ten minutes before they decided they needed to wrap up this experience they shared. The two of them knew they were probably going to get sick, but it was worth every moment under those clouds.

Epilogue:

Anna and Ichimatsu made it back to the Matsuno household shivering and chilled. Naturally, Anna was laughing at the reactions of all her friends when they saw the both of them sopping wet. All five other Matsus were worried sick about them being caught in this weather, and were even more spooked that they were shivering like chihuahuas. They all scattered to get the things necessary to warm their brother and friend up.

“What were you two thinking going out without an umbrella? I swear, you guys are so dim at times.” Choromatsu scolded them as he dried off Anna’s hair with a towel. “Sorry Choromatsu~ Didn’t think we’d take this long getting home”, Anna said clearly stating she wasn’t in the least bit remorseful about staying outside longer than she should have. 

Jyushimatsu was towel drying Ichimatsu’s hair and noticed his brother was even quieter than usual, and…was he blushing? He ignored it as Karamatsu brought in dry clothes for the both of them to change into. The Matsunos and their family friend ended the night with a hot dinner and movies until the rain let up. Anna went home and promised to see them all again soon. Ichimatsu was in the corner as usual, quietly thinking about the day he’s had. Only a couple of his brothers noticed he wasn’t talking much today but they concluded it was just a bad day for him. They couldn’t be further from the truth.


	9. A Lot Has Happened...So What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter happens after S2 EP24 "Sakura" so that's where this chapter and the ones after fit in

Pedestrians walked through the rain in attempts to not get wet and get inside a warm building. Except for a particular man in red who was too lost in thought to even care about the cold rain. His breath was so slow that it was hard to tell if he was even breathing at all. His expression was blank and very different from his usual charming grin that used to be painted in his face. Cherry blossom petals were being ripped off the branches by the wind and landing on and around him.

Osomatsu left the house to try and answer questions he had storming through is mind. That wasn’t working very well since he wasn’t thinking of anything, he was just spaced, dazed, and confused about a million thoughts passing in his mind one after another. He was so spaced in fact that he didn’t realize it was raining until someone held an umbrella over him and called for him to come back to reality.

“…Oso? You good there, hun?” It was his family friend Anna. She was very involved with the family and was there to help the family while…everything was happening. She helped Matsuyo keep up with the house even though she had a business to run and she seemed more willing to sacrifice her own time to be there for the sons when she heard of their father being hospitalized. She already spent a considerable amount of time with them to begin with but after she learned what happened, she seemed to always be close by to be with at least one of the brothers or Matsuyo. Chances are that she was sent by the family to look for Osomatsu.

Osomatsu looked up and focused on the auburn haired woman in front of him. He noticed she was forcing a smile for him and he might have thought it was a happy smile if her eyes didn’t give away how torn her heart was. “…You want some company?” Anna asked knowing he might need to talk, away from other people. He didn’t respond verbally to her but he simply scooted a few inches so she could join him on the bench. She sat and joined him, still keeping the umbrella mostly over him. 

It took a few minutes before the two even started a conversation. Of course it was on Anna to initiate said conversation. She quietly started speaking for whatever reason. “So why are ya out in the rain? Thinking too much again?” It took a brief moment before Osomatsu found the short answer to respond with.

“I suppose so.”

“You wanna talk about it? You know I’m always here to listen…”

She always said that to the Matsunos. She said that she was ‘always there’, and while she held true to her words she didn’t have to be. Osomatsu knew that Anna truly cared for him and his family, and while he appreciates it, he never understood why. 

He wanted to get all this crap out of his system so he took her up on that offer to have her listen. He looked over to her, still smiling sincerely at him. The rain faded into drizzle and she closed the umbrella. He started spilling his thoughts while looking at nothing in particular. “I’ve just been really out of it lately. After everything that’s happened with dad…the six of us have been thinking about what to do next. Thinking about when our parents are…actually gone and if we’ll be okay without them. Everything that’s happened with dad was really scary and now after all that…we might go separate ways. I don’t really know how to feel about it.” At this Osomatsu leaned back into the tree behind him and softly thudded his head against it’s trunk. He looked over to Anna who had her arm wrapped around her legs and chin resting on her knees. She figured he was done so she continued.

“And why does that worry you? You always tell me about how you want to be independent. Or how you wish you were an only child at times.” Anna replied hoping for some understanding of what he needed to hear. Osomatsu continued.

“That’s what I thought too, but now I’m not really sure. I thought I was positive that we’d always be by each other’s side, I mean, that’s why we don’t have jobs or girlfriends; so we can spend a lot of time with each other. And if we don’t have each other then…what does that make me?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean that…if it isn’t the six of us anymore and it’s just me. Then am I still me? …Am I still Osomatsu?” The wind seemed to stop all together and the world seemed void of any other motion. Like everything was frozen and could start to crack and crumble with a single movement. Anna took a moment to find the words to respond to him with. She wanted to be bluntly honest with him like she normally is but knew that he didn’t need that right now, so she settled with some advise with that she feels might console him as well. She put her heart into her words and began slowly. “Of course you’re still you. Your brothers don’t define you, you define yourself. Even if they aren’t around, you are still the Matsuno Osomatsu. You are still your own, you don’t belong to them. I promise that you’ll be okay and they will be too. After all, they have a great big brother who taught them how to be okay…You are still you. ” It took Osomatsu a few minutes to process what he just heard, it wasn’t exactly what he was expecting to hear. 

He had a smile growing on his face and began to softly chuckle as he sat back upright. “That’s just like you, Anna. Giving the same advise an old person would give.” His chuckling grew into his signature lighthearted laugh and Anna joined in with her own soft laughter knowing he was right. She always sounded like a grandma whenever she gave advise. Their laughter slowly faded out and Osomatsu continued.

“But I guess your right…still I don’t know what to do next. I mean, where do I even start?” Anna slid closer and bumped her shoulder against his. “Oh come on, you’re still young, you have time to figure all that stuff out. Start with figuring out what to do today.” She stood up and faced him with an outstretched hand and a big smile that could replace the sun. “Let’s head home, your mom’s making a big dinner tonight.” Osomatsu gave another light chuckle and took her hand.

The two headed to the Matsuno residence and sure enough, dinner was there with everyone waiting.


	10. Getting to Know You (PT 1)

Karamatsu was bored again. His brothers were doing something without him…again, so he was left to think of his own plans. He was laying on the family room’s couch mindlessly looking up at the rotating ceiling fan. He didn’t feel like waiting for his brothers because heaven knows how long they’ll take to get home. He spent a good ten minutes debating all of his options. He couldn’t think of one thing to get his mind away from how bored he was. Running his fingers through is hair in frustration he was desperate for anything to do. 

He looked at the clock to see if he should just wait when a thought came to him. It was a little after 4pm. That was normally the time when Anna, the Matsuno’s family friend, closed up shop and went home. She did always say they were welcome to stop by whenever they wanted to visit…and she did give them a spare key…Karamatsu rolled his eyes to himself and said fuck it. He was sure she wouldn’t mind him dropping by. In typical Karamatsu fashion, he dramatically grabbed the spare key, slipped on his shoes and made his way to the home of their family friend. 

Anna didn’t live that far away so it wasn’t very long until he was rounding the block to her house. Anna was always kind to Kara so he knew that she wouldn’t turn him away, even if she was busy (which she always was). He wasn’t sure how she did it. She already did so much for her small business and when she became acquainted with him and his family, she did so much more than they could ever ask of her. 

They never really knew why she did so much for them considering they were pretty big assholes. She knew quite a lot about the brothers because they all eventually opened up a bit and told her whenever something happened between them. She liked to listen and give whatever advise she could give, but for some reason…they knew only a little about her. The brothers didn’t really realize that they didn’t know much about her until they really stopped and thought about it. They would like to know more about her personal life, it’s only fair since she knew a lot about their’s. But they didn’t even know where to begin when asking about her.

-They hung a sign up in our town  
“If you live it up, you won’t live it down”  
So she left Monte Rio, son  
Just like a bullet leaves a gun  
With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips  
She went and took that California trip  
Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind  
Said, “don’t look back, just come on, Jim"Oh, you got to hold on, hold on  
You gotta hold on  
Take my hand, I’m standing right here, you gotta hold on-

Karamatsu was only about three houses away from Anna’s when he heard someone…Where they singing? His eyes darted around trying to see if he could find anyone around. The neighborhood was empty for all except an old couple sitting on their balcony, he guessed they were listening to the singing as well. Karamatsu made it to the house next to Anna’s and noticed the lights were on and that the windows were wide open, just like she always kept them. He nor his brothers have ever heard Anna sing, they didn’t even know if she could! No way it was her, right? 

-Well, he gave her a dimestore watch  
And a ring made from a spoon  
Everyone’s looking for someone to blame  
When you share my bed, you share my name  
Well, go ahead and call the cops  
You don’t meet nice girls in coffee shops  
She said, "baby, I still love you”  
Sometimes there’s nothin’ left to do

Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on-

He paused for a moment to really listen. The voice he was hearing…it was pretty beautiful. It was by no means amazing but it was certainly good. There was a kind of warmth and familiarity to it. It was the kind of singing voice one might associate with their mother singing to them when they were a child. 

Karamatsu made it near one of the many open windows of Anna’s house and noted that it was louder under this spot in particular…it was her who was singing. How could they never have known she had such a nice voice? He had to see it to believe it. He made his way to the front door, quietly unlocked it and snuck in. He still heard Anna singing, so that meant she didn’t hear him let himself in. It sounded like she was in her kitchen. 

He slid his shoes off and made his way to the kitchen’s door frame as quietly as possible. She was mixing something in a large bowl and had her back to him so she still didn’t notice her surprise visitor. It was quite the sight for him to state it simply. Karamatsu leaned against the door frame and contently watched her sing as if she was the only person in her own ideal world. He probably could have watched her for hours if he hadn’t given himself away.

While admiring her singing he absentmindedly let out his signature ‘heh’. Of course, Anna heard it and flung around from the scare. She didn’t scream but let out a fairly dramatic gasp of fear. It took her a moment to indentify her unexpected guest, clutching her heart from the surprise. When she realized she wasn’t about to get murdered she let out a small laugh from the somewhat amusing situation. “Kara! Wasn’t expecting you to stop by.” Anna said through breathy chuckles. “What brings you ‘round these parts?”

“I am so sorry! I shouldn’t have scared you like that!” Karamatsu said, clearly in a panic over the situation. Anna just rolled her hazel eyes, head slightly rolling with them like she always did, small smile on her face. “Nonsense, I remember telling you boys that you could stop by whenever you wanted. It’s fine, sweetie.” Karamatsu returned a thankful smile, relieved that she wasn’t mad that he literally just broke into her house. He made his way next to her as she turned back to whatever she was making, hunching over and placing his elbows on the counter. There was a few seconds of silence before Anna glanced over and noticed that her friend was staring at her with such a confused expression. She slapped a smile back on and began speaking, “What’s with that look, ya dork?” 

Karamatsu was considering what he should say, this was a chance to know more about her. However, he had to be careful about how he phrased his words because he knew if it came out wrong she would get defensive and shut down the conversation. She was like Ichimatsu in that sense, so he knew how to pick his words wisely. “I’m sorry, it seems you caught me just as off guard. I didn’t know you could sing, my dear Anna-chan.” Her grin shifted into more of an unsure half smile. “…Yeah, I suppose I didn’t tell you guys. It’s just a dumb little hobby of mine so I guess I just never brought it up.” This time Karamatsu was quick to speak. “I don’t believe that singing was “just a hobby” for you. A voice as nice as yours surely has some experience.”

“A bit, but that was years ago. I gave it up a while ago.” Anna said with much hesitance in her voice, Kara guessed she didn’t like to talk about it. If anything it made him more curious. “Gave it up? May I ask why?” She gave a look that clearly showed that she was contemplating if she wanted to tell him. She started pouring the batter of what she was making into a pan and slowly began speaking. “Well…I suppose I did ‘cause of something that happened. I couldn’t keep it with it, so I quit.”

“I see. Theater club?”

“You know it.”

“From the dreamy tone of your voice it sounds like you really loved performing. Whatever forced you to leave must have been pretty devastating, even for someone as strong as you.” Kara said in his flowery fashion. Anna placed the pan in the oven and flatly said, “You have no idea.” She set a timer and motioned Kara to follow her to the living room. Once they got situated she started the conversation again.

“Why did you wanna drop in? Brothers being mean again?” Anna asked with a joking tone. In any other circumstance, Karamatsu would have happily started talking about himself. But after that insight into Anna’s life before she came to Japan, he wanted to know more. Who knows what he could learn about their mutual friend if he kept the subject on her. “Actually, my dear, I was hoping to use this moment to deepen our friendship and enable me to understand more of your life before your settlement in Japan. So if you are comfortable enough to confide in me, I would love to learn and listen about your life overseas. It would be an honor to hear you ramble about your life outside of your time with my brothers and I.” 

When Karamatsu finished his dramatic request, Anna wasn’t really sure why he wanted to know more about her life before she met him and his brothers. She didn’t really know if she wanted to talk about it either. But seeing how he clearly wanted to know more about her personal life made her put aside her pride and concluded there wasn’t any harm in letting him know. She also knew he would blab about it to his brothers, but she didn’t mind spilling some tea about herself. “Ummmm, sure I suppose. I wouldn’t even know where to begin so what do you wanna know?”

“Heh. Well for a start, we sextuplets noticed that you don’t speak much about your family…”


	11. Getting to Know You (PT 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a trigger warning here: mentions of self harm, drug use, and there is a description of self harm marks so please keep that in mind if you are sensitive to such things!

“My family? I thought I already told you I only have the one older sister.” 

Anna gave her typical short response with a tilt of her head over the strange topic. Didn’t she tell the Matsunos about her family already? She didn’t really remember. “Heh, yes you have! However, it’s the rest of your family that has me curious.” Karamatsu quickly spoke.

“Oh…you want to know about the rest of them?”

Kara gave a firm nod and motioned for her to continue. Something glinted in his eye that made Anna loosen up and make her decide it was okay to tell…at least him. Anna messed around with her hoodie’s long sleeve and stretched it over her palms before she spoke again. “Well it’s kind of a sad story, can’t promise it’s gonna be short either”, Anna’s voice gradually faded out as she finished her warning to Karamatsu. “I would love to listen to every word.” He said in response, being worried he may have crossed a line. Karamatsu covered his worry with his charming smile as a way to reassure Anna it was alright to get emotional about whatever story she was about to give. With a lopsided grin, Anna shifted her eyes away from her friend and began.

“Well…mom and dad were both only children, so there aren’t any aunts or uncles to talk about. My father’s father died when dad was young, so I never had the chance to meet him, and his mother passed away when I was in middle school. My grandparents on my mom’s side passed away a few years after that. Grandma wasn’t doing well and Grandpa didn’t last long after that.” With just that first part Kara looked mortified about how many family members she’s already lost. Anna’s breathing visibly slowed down as she leaned backwards, using her arms as support behind her, and continued after only glancing at Kara to make sure he was still listening. She didn’t want to repeat anything. “Dad…wasn’t around much. Military man. He was always deployed and only came home for a week long visit every other year. When he came back for retirement he and my mom divorced about a few moths later when he admitted he wasn’t being faithful. My sister and I took it pretty hard but we, my mom, sister, and I; got better rather quickly. None of us have heard from dad since he left so I don’t even know what happened to him. He’s probably dead but I’m not sure.” Anna gave another pause before she kept on telling her story. “Then when I was seventeen, my sister went on a mission trip for the church she went to and…it never came back…That’s when I stopped theater and things like that.” Her eyes glossed over and her pause was longer than the last.

“Do you know what happened?” Karamatsu asked.

“Engine failure. Crashed into the ocean and no one survived.” Anna softly answered as her smile faded completely. She wanted to be honest and tell her friends every thing, but she didn’t know it would hurt this much to remember. “…I’m very sorry, Anna…from the way you speak of your sister, I figured that she…”, Kara didn’t dare finish. “The day we got the news”, Anna continued without acknowledging what Kara said, “it feels like I lost my mom that day too. She only lasted about another month before she died as well… Overdosed on her sleeping pills.”

There was a break of about two minutes before Kara could find his words. “…Anna…I couldn’t even know what that must have been like to go through…I don’t think I would have survived like you have if it had been me.” Kara was unsure what to say as he spoke. Not even looking back at him, Anna kept her end of the conversation. “I almost didn’t, hun. I’m still surprised that the neighbors heard me before I bleed out.” Karamatsu whipped his head towards her as his heart began to beat faster over her phrasing of words. He could hardly mutter out a “what?” before he started to lightly shake. Anna sat back up right and stared at her long sleeve before she rolled it up above her elbow and displayed the long scar that completely covered her forearm. There were few horizontal lines that went across her arm that were beginning to fade and a thick scar that went from her wrist to near her elbow. The scar was on both sides of her arm, silently telling Kara that she somehow cut through her whole arm.

“I spent some time in a mental hospital after that”, Anna said without her usual dreamy and kind tone of voice, “I stayed and they told me it was for the best to get away…get away to somewhere far from my bad memories. A place that I felt I could start over. When they told me I was well enough to fend for myself, I knew where I wanted to go.” She finished as she pulled her sleeve back down past her fingers.

A moment of quiet. “And that’s why you moved to Japan.” Karamatsu said as if all the dots just connected for him. Anna nodded to confirm. He was half hoping for a more happy story from his close friend as to why she moved. He was expecting literally anything else. A job opportunity, extended family, and a million other possibilities would have been better than knowing what she actually moved for. Then he got to thinking something worse: if she had lied, and he found out another way, would he have been angry at her then? Would he have thought of her differently if she told him sooner? Does this make him view her differently now? She’s still Anna to him right? Why should this make him see her any other way?

Karamatsu was going back and forth over what he should be feeling and hating the questions he was asking himself. He already knew he cared about Anna as a dear friend that he respected highly, so why where these horrible questions being demanded to be asked by himself, to himself? A ding was heard from the kitchen and Anna perked back up as she went to attend to it.

Karamatsu fixed his gaze to his clenched fists that were in his lap as she left wordlessly. He nearly regretted asking her everything and almost loathed that she was so honest. He was conflicted if he would have wanted a lie from her so he wouldn’t feel so guilty. Anna was Kara’s friend and knowing what she had to go through alone made him angry that no one was there. He was angry that something so painful happened to someone he cared so deeply about. At that moment he wished he’d known Anna longer. In another world where they knew each other since they were kids so he could have been there to help her. 

But that’s not the universe they lived in.

Anna came back into the room and sat back down. She managed to get a breather as she was in the kitchen, thankfully feeling better than she did a minute ago. Her normal cheerful attitude returned along with her genuine smile. Once she looked over towards Karamatsu, Anna knew she may have said too much. She never opened up this much so she may have crossed a line. “Hey, sweetie. I’m sorry I told you all of that, guess I should have known I’d upset you with all the baggage.” Kara sat unresponsive so she tried again. Anna took hold of his balled up hand and placed it in her lap. “I’m sorry, Karamatsu. I don’t know why I told you all that.”

He was quiet as he moved his hand on top of hers and pulled her closer into an overbearing hug. One of his hands placed in her auburn hair and the other around her waist, he still said nothing as he just kept a tight grip around his friend. Anna gently wrapped her arms around him as well not really understanding what was happening. Was there a particular reason he was hugging her? Karamatsu took a breath before he spoke again.

“Anna, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry you had to do all of this alone. I’m sorry the world was this cruel to you and that no one else was there to help you. I wish that I… that I could have been there to help you. It’s stupid to wish the impossible to happen, I know, but I would give anything to keep all you’ve been through from happening.”

Anna felt a tear fall from Kara’s face onto her as he finished. Anna separated their hug and kept her hands in his. Kara’s eyes were red and puffy and she still felt horrible for making him cry. “Hun, thank you for all of that, but you are right. You can’t change the past.” Kara gave a small sniffle as she continued. “You may not be able to help past me but you being here now means the world to me. Despite everything, I still believe everything happens for a reason, and I think the reason for me is so I could appreciate a friend as kind as you. I don’t feel sad or upset for a single thing that’s happened to me because meeting you and your brothers made all the hurt and healing and waiting worth it.”

Anna wiped a stray tear on Kara’s cheek when he finally made eye contact again. She softly pulled him back into another hug and they spent the rest of the night talking about other things. Neither of them expected to have such an emotional night, but in the end they were glad that they became closer. Karamatsu made a deal with himself that he wouldn’t tell his brothers about what he learned about their mutual friend and the talkative night he had with her. 

Because despite everything, she was still Anna: his closest friend.


	12. JUST TELL HER (Final Chapter)

“Ichimmachan you can’t be serious! If you like her, then tell her!” 

The Matsuno household was filled with shouts, as usual, but today’s loud conversation was about something one may say was life changing. Ichimatsu was in love. After the incident in the rain about 2 months ago he had with Anna, he started showing obvious signs he’s fallen…hard. Anna was completely oblivious due to the fact she was never good with those kinds of signs. However, it was pretty clear to Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu that he developed feeling for their mutual friend. Ichimatsu seemed to be cleaning up a bit more, somehow bringing Anna up in casual conversation, standing a bit straighter, and was noticeably smiling more when she was around. The second and fifth sons were the ones who confronted him about it in front of the whole group of brothers. Through a lot of yelling, they managed to get a conformation about his thoughts on Anna. How could they not want him to say something? This was a big moment after all! The only problem was that he had no plans of telling her.

He and Anna had made plans to meet up later that day just for a walk, so obviously Ichi’s brothers thought this was the best time to confess his feelings. “You guys are being ridiculous. What makes you all think I have a chance with someone like her? I don’t want to ruin what I already have with her, so I’m not saying anything. And if any of you say a word, I’ll kill you myself” was Ichi’s only dark response to his brothers. With his darker aura being present, most of his clones seemed to shut up. Except Osomatsu of course. “Think about this Ichimmachan, it’s better if you just tell her. Don’t you think it’s selfish of you to still be around her so often when you feel this way without her knowing? That’s kind of a dick move lil bro.”

The man in question gained a softer and more thoughtful look as he wordlessly exited the room. The others he left behind began to stand up to follow him but was told to say put, per request of the eldest. 

“Leave him be…he can do this himself.”

Ichimatsu walked towards his and Anna’s regular meet up spot. The bench outside her cafe and near the beginning of the park’s walk trail. He walked there in a slightly nicer shirt than normal and jeans rather than his regular sweatpants. He even wore a belt! His whole walk there, he contemplated the advise from Osomatsu and was really conflicted if he should actually take love advise from the worst brother possible when it comes to such a topic. He sighed as he looked up ahead to the final stretch of path before the meeting point. 

He looked up with a hint of a smile when he caught sight of Anna. She was sitting with her legs “criss cross applesause” on the bench with two drinks next to her. She seemed to be having a conversation with an old lady sitting next to her and laughing at something she said. Not wanting to intrude, he leaned against a near by tree and waited for her to end her conversation naturally. It was only about thirty seconds of more chatter between Anna and the older lady before she glanced over and noticed Ichi was waiting for her. She unfolded her legs and grabbed the drinks next to her as she gave a sweet good bye to her old conversation partner.

“Hey, Ichi! Ready to go?” Anna asked while she held out one of the cups towards him. He gave a soft spoken greeting back as he accepted the tea she knew was his favorite. Since Anna owned a cafe, she always had a drink ready to give any of the sextuplets whenever she spent time with them. After a while, she figured who like what the best. Anna took a quick glance at Ichi and her smile got a little bigger. “Wow, you look nice today!” The way she said it somehow made Ichimatsu know that she was being sincere with her compliment. “…thanks” was the only thing he could say back without wanting to deny her kind words.

The two began their regular walking route, talking about nothing in particular. Just the normal conversations about their respective day and included some inside jokes. The path they took was rather long so they always felt they had all the time in the world to just talk. When it was just Ichimatsu and Anna, he was always more talkative and kept a good conversation. Not even his own brothers were able to get him to talk so much and it surprised them all when Anna told them how much of a talker he’s become. Anna did most of the laughing since that’s just what she did, but Ichimatsu is quite the comedian when someone actually shares his sense of humor like she did.

They were still walking the very long road that was lined with the blooming flower petals as it was very close to the golden hours of the day. The sun wasn’t quite at the horizon but the lighting began to change. The mood seemed to calm down as Ichi and Anna walked in silence only inches next to each other, doing nothing more than enjoying the other’e presence. Ichi stared ahead seeming to be so deep in thought that it’s possible no one could bring him back from his daze. He was mulling over Osomatsu’s words from earlier. Anna glanced to her right and saw him so focused on something that she became kinda concerned. “You okay over there? You seem like you got something big you’re thinkin’ about.” 

The street they walked had only a few people sprinkled here and there but felt mostly deserted as Ichimatsu abruptly stopped walking at the half way point on the bridge. He kept his eyes fixed to the ground as he tried to gather his thoughts. Anna stopped walking as well and continued, “If you got something on your mind, you can talk to me if you want. I’ll always be there if ya need someone to listen”. Anna always said that, “I’ll always be there”. She stayed true to her promise, but no person could figure out why. 

Anna stepped a bit closer and brushed Ichi’s bangs out of the way, her sleeve sliding down a bit to have some of her gauze poke out, and gave him one of her…overwhelmingly beautiful smiles. Her methods of comfort never failed to bring someone’s mood up. Gathering what courage he had, Ichimatsu took in a breath as he stood upright to begin something he knew he was probably going to regret. He still didn’t look her in the eyes as he started. 

“…There’s something…that I think I should tell you.”

If he listened close enough he would be able to hear Anna’s pounding heart from her chest over her anxiety about whatever news Ichi was about to give. She always hated when people started like that and made her want to die on the spot each time she heard those words. She asked him to continue despite the fact she was about to collapse from stress. Still avoiding eye contact, Ichi carefully took hold of both Anna’s delicate soft hands and began an impromptu speech. He knew it would sound cliche but he didn’t care.

“I’m not really sure how to phrase this properly but…I think I’m in love with you. I don’t know when I knew, but I know that…I’m so in love with you that it’s maddening and makes me feel like I’m going crazy. I think about you so much and I can’t put a label on all these new feelings I’ve been cycling through whenever my thoughts drift to you, or when I spend time with you…”, he took a breath and tightened his hold on her hands, “We both know you could do way better than me, but everything about you has made me want to do better, be better for you…and I want to give you all the energy that I have to help you too. I probably shouldn’t have told you all this, and I know you have your reasons for not seeing people currently", he said as he glided his thumb over her black metal ring on her right hand, “and hell, I probably just ruined our friendship but…it would have been selfish of me to continue being around you without you knowing I have these unfair feelings for you.”

Anna was stunned over his words. No one has ever confessed to her before and didn’t really know how to react. Anna truthfully had feelings for Ichimatsu as well but felt that he wouldn’t be interested in someone like her because of some of the things she’s opened up about. With her heart still pounding like mad, and her face as red as Mars, she attempted to match words with her thoughts. Anna moved her hand from Ichi’s grip to his cheek and gently rubbed it with her thumb. 

“…Ichimatsu”, she began quietly, “I’m…honestly super crazy about you too…I’m not really good with my words either but I want you to know that…the feeling’s mutual, hun. I want nothing more than to see you get better, since I know how hard it is but…I promise to stand with you every step of the way. You’ve improved so much and I can’t tell you how much that means to me… that you want to be better for someone like me when you’re the one helping me.”

Ichi felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He placed his free hand on top of Anna’s hand that was placed on his cheek and gave it a tight squeeze. Neither of them really new what to do next after something like that. Anna decided to close the gap between them and rest her forehead against Ichi’s as they stood, swaying ever so slightly with their eyes closed as the two took in all that just happened. After a while, Anna asked in a slight whisper, “So…are we really gonna do this?” Ichi had a smile that rivaled hers on his face as he whispered back only three words in return.

“…I think so.”


End file.
